US SUPREME COURT

Argentinians would not need to suffer if assets hidden from creditors could be recovered and, in any case, the country need not default. As a senior portfolio manager at Elliott Management wrote in the Financial Times, Argentina "could easily afford to pay all of its defaulted debt tomorrow."

Is the U.S. election really a neck-and-neck race, like the pollsters in the mainstream media keep reporting? Not really. It would be close, if the popular vote indeed decided the Presidency, but it's the Electoral College that determines who wins. That's why Obama and Romney don't bother to campaign in California, New York, or Texas; the outcomes there are "givens." The swing-states are where the action is -- and this time around, Ohio is the "swingyest" of them all.

The implementation of Obamacare seems anything but straight forward. Costs have soared despite the fact that most reforms don't kick in until 2014; several states have effectively rebelled; one basic reform (the long-term care insurance) was already scrapped. The debate over American health care seems no closer to resolution.

In Canada, it has been part of our tradition and law for close to 50 years. The great universal medicare is still a great Canadian bipartisan jewel achieved a long time ago. Looking at what happened in the United States today, I am just surprised it took Americans this long to catch up to us.